A Wrongful Drift (Seagrove 8) Read Online Free Page A

from the road – and exited the car. They made it halfway up the narrow path when the door flew open and a young woman burst out onto the step. Her hair was unkempt, black wisps flying everywhere, and her eyes were wild. She saw them and froze, comically balanced on one foot until she seemed to realize it and set her foot down.
    “Who are you?” she asked.
    “I’m Sadie Barnett, this is Lucy and this is Betty.” She indicated the women on either side of her.
    “This,” she pointed down, “Is Mr. Bradshaw.” The woman looked at the terrier in surprise.
    “Mr. Bradshaw?” she asked. “His name is Mr. Bradshaw?”
    “I mostly call him Mr. B,” Sadie said, “But he came to me as Mr. Bradshaw and it didn’t seem fair to change his name.”
    “I had a teacher named Mr. Bradshaw in sixth grade,” she said and crouched down.
    “I have a feeling this Mr. Bradshaw would be a better teacher than he was.” She held out her hand toward the dog, who was a good fifteen feet away and looked to Sadie for permission.
    Sadie let out the leash and let him walk up to the girl, who he sniffed cautiously before letting her rub his ears. The girl talked softly to Mr. B and Sadie felt like she totally had forgotten the women at the other end of the leash.
    “We are looking for Holly Rigby,” Sadie said. “I think she lives here?”
    “I’m Holly,” the girl said without looking up. “But you don’t seem like reporters to me.”
    “Are you expecting reporters?” Sadie asked.
    “Someone killed Sylvia, my academic rival, it’s only a matter of time before the press comes looking for me.” She gave Mr. B one last pat and stood up.
    “You’re not expecting the police?” Lucy asked. “I think that’s who’d I’d be expecting if my rival was murdered.”
    “Academic rival,” Holly corrected. “Not that I was much of a rival for her. I came in second in everything.”
    “Weren’t you tired of coming in second?” Betty asked, “I sure would be.”
    “Of course, I’m tired of being second. I worked my butt off to pass her and never did. And the kicker? She didn’t have to work at all. It all just came so easily to her. She could party all night before a test and still come in top of the class. It was frustrating.”
    “Frustrating enough that you wanted to kill her?” Lucy asked.
    “Kill her? So I could be first? What good would that do? What’s the point of coming in first if you have to kill someone to get there? Now I’ll always be second best. I’ll never know if I could have come in first in fair competition with her. It sucks.” She jammed her hands in her pockets.
    “And I paid for classes to learn a bunch of new study skills and retention methods. It’s all ruined now. And if you are right I’ll probably get arrested, too.”
    “We don’t know that,” Sadie said. “We are just surprised you expected reporters.”
    “Are you kidding? Top of the class sorority girl is murdered. Of course they are going to run down anyone who had a grudge against her. As if.” She rolled her eyes.
    “Do you know anyone who hated her enough to kill her?” Sadie asked.
    “We had a particularly heinous hazing ritual this year,” Holly said.
    “A lot of the girls felt humiliated, and most of them didn’t make the cut even after they went through that. Samantha Vitt thought Sylvia was in charge of it and threatened to report her to the school when she found out it was Syl’s idea. Hazing is prohibited by the college, but everyone does it anyway.” She shrugged. “Nobody thinks they should have to change the way they do things. Tradition and all that.”
    “A lot of horrible things happen in the name of tradition,” Sadie said.
    She watched Mr. Bradshaw sniffing around the edge of the flower garden. “Do you know how to get hold of Samantha Vitt?”
    “Sam? No. I haven’t seen her since she threatened to turn us in. How did you find me?” Holly asked.
    “Bullied the registrar into giving me the